The Elephant Living Under the Bridge

The not-so-surprising reality is that most Americans would rather sit in their recliners with eyes glued to the TV like zombies while they denounce, deny, and try and ignore it, but the topic of recreational drug use is one which has proved tireless like the tweak slamming stereotypes they resemble, who ironically also sit in their recliners with eyes glued to the TV. Considered by most as a means to an end, drugs play a role in every human beings life, be it medicinal, subconscious, or straight fiendish.

If nothing else, we here at Ultra Vulgar advocate hedonistic euphoria in any pragmatic way you can get it, short of anything that will land us before a judge, of course. Kids, don’t do anything illegal. That being said, we want to maximize the recreational value you get out of, uh, life, while emphasizing harm reduction.

Duncan and Gold, who wrote the book on doing dope les danger, talk about three responsibilities users have when getting high: situational, such as not taking drugs all by yourself or due to coercion, health responsibilities, like knowing enough about the substance you may intend to take as well as the doses which you intend to take them at, and safety related, saying basically that there is never any real reason you should be injecting anything into your body. If you find yourself fitting into the UVSF demographic then you are not a fucking doctor and you are not a fucking addict (if you answered yes to any of these, please write us immediately for employment opportunities!). Chances are high that you are both street and book savvy individual who can appreciate literary art and knows how to get down. Chances are even higher that if you are still reading this, you are already lit.

Let’s take a quick peek behind the bio-chemical curtain. Whether you consciously know about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs or just live it day to day, the fact is that a lust for altered consciousness, if for no other reason than to keep one’s sanity in check, is among the needs of a human being. Yup, right up there with shelter and food. That is, whether you choose to take drugs recreationally or get your serotonin fix by skydiving or doing yoga or simply meditating, be it a socially acceptable method or downright vulgar behavior, the MO is undeniable. But there is more to be said about getting your fix without putting foreign chemicals inside your body in next week’s article about natural highs.

While an active member to legalization advocate groups such as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, I have spoken to former court judges and police chiefs who were more adamant about the legalization of all narcotics than any college dropout I’ve ever met. While drugs in America play a key role in politics, it’s hard to ignore the facts. Things like the promotion of crime, pollution, discrimination, disease, and not to mention the billions spent on ineffective law enforcement alone as a result of the drug war. But this isn’t a lecture, and if you want to learn more or check out some very interesting reports you can join the debate at IDPC.

Any economist, statistician, or politician will tell you that the numbers can be skewed either way depending on what you are trying to prove. With that in mind, sit back in your recliner, turn on Desperate Housewives, and rack up another rail while you try to convince yourself that a $100 a week coke habit isn’t putting thousands out on the street and sentencing hundreds to death all across the globe on a daily basis.